Improvement in concussion-fuse for explosive projectiles



L. HENRY.

Shell-Fuse.

Patented Jue 2, 1863.

' certain Improvements in Projectiles for Canto the letters of reference marked thereon.

' referred to hereinafter.

Vcylinder c, which is wedged, fw, in the shell peris attached to these two parts in the same manits seat around this stop as a center, as indillwrrnn STATES lArtnr Fries,

J. L. HENRY, OF LOG OLI) FIELDS I. O., MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO ItICHD.- I). HERY.

IMPROVEMENT IN CONCUSSION-FUSE VFOR EXPLOSll/E PROJECTlLES.

Specilmtion forming part nl' Letters Patent No, Sf, dated .lune 2, ltii.

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. L. HENRY, late of the Regular United States Army, have invented non and I do hereby declare the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and

The nature of my invention consists in the construction ofthe plunger7 in concussionshells, and in the devices for retaining it in its normal position or seat, and for releasing it therefrom when red, for reasons well known.

Figure l is a section through the axis of my construction of .such shells, (the method of banding shown being secured in my patent dated July S, 1852,) having the plunger B in its seat G, and all the devices for retaining1 it and releasing it, except that shown in Fig. 2,

The form I have given the plunger here is cylindro or sphero conical, its conic part rest-ing in a corresponding seat formed in the manently. A friction-tape,"7 o, is attached to the inner end ot' the cylinder, and also to the central point of the inner terminus of the conic part of the plunger. A bit of twine, t,

ner. Its use will be mentioned farther on.

To retain the plunger in its seat, an elbowstop, s, is iirmly iixed in the cylinder in which a pin, i, in the plunger rests, permitting, however, the plunger to freely turn about its axis in its seat in a direction opposite to that of rotation imparted to the shell (and the cylinder-seat) by the riiies of the gun. This stop, however, is not sufficient of itself to retain the plunger securely in its seat, for it not only may turn in its seat, as stated, till freed from this check, but it might also rotate from cated in the dotted segment z,- hence I use in connection with this another stop, r, upon the end of a stiff wire, fu, which takes into a suitable notch in the plunger. It is plain that the plunger cannot now movernntil released from both of these stops, which is done as follows The wire fu, passing through the cylinder c and shell, screws tightly in the rear thereof, as shown at m, extends nearly to the outer surl face of the shell, and has a valve, fu, firmly iixed to it, which neatly tits in a chamber having a rotary latitude ot' movement for the valve of plunger in its seat, and but for the other stop,s,

would be free to iy therefrom. rlhe rotation of the shell (due to the rifles) being acquired after this first stop is removed, its effect will be to cause the partial rotation of the plunger in its scat in the opposite direction, (by virtue of its inertia,) and will thus disengageitself from theseeond stop The plunger being now retained in its seat by thc twine t only, will (on the shells striking) be free to fly, having to break the twine only, (or its equivalent,) and in so doing will ignite the frictionetape (or explode a cap properly attached to its rear end) and explode the shell. If the rotation of the shell alone were depended onto release the plunger from one or two stops it might fail, since to prevent accidents from rough handling, &c., a spring or frictional device would have to be used in connection with the stops to prevent the accidental partial turning necessary to release it, and as the precise degree of, this friction (allowing nothing but the rotation due to rifles to disengage it from its stop) would, perhaps, be difficult to determine, I have preferred to depend on not-hing but certainty, and therefore have" availed myself of the assist-ance of the wire stop operated only by the gas, no accident being competent to do so.

In Fig.l 2 I have shown another method for retaining and releasing the plunger. Balls q, strung upon wires q', which are firmly fixed, serve to keep the plunger in place when the shell receives its rotary motion. These balls will move outward to their positions, as indicated in dotted curves q, thus leaving the plunger free, as before. It is plain that four balls wiil insure two always at the center, while the other two (by accidental rotation) might be at the periphery 5 but the precise deber L.

tails in arranging this device can best be determined by experiment and theory combined.

Of course the chamber Q in which the plunger moves may be as large as desired, though the relative dimensions shown will answer.

The plunger, its tape, &c., are fitted to the cylinder c, and the cylinder is put in place and wedged or otherwise fastened. rlhe screwplug A is then inserted and the shell is ready for use.. I will remark that if Va time-fuse be desirable to use in connection with this plunger, a tape could easily be arranged circularly around the cylindrical seat-piece, at its outer end, near its periphery, so as to ignite the time-fuse by the partial rotary movement of the plunger in its seat when released, as described.

It is plain that a piston may replace the valve on the wire u, and the gas would force it directly forward to release a stop on the plunger. In this case there will be no screw on the wire a, but merely a tight iit instead.

I think it is evident that thetwo great desiderata in concussion-shells are accomplished by the foregoing construction-. c., certain security against accidental explosion and certain explosion at the time desired, however obliquely the shell may strikeand the friction-tape obviates non-explosion in those cases where a cap would fail from corrosion whenV left long on the nipple of the common directmoving plunger.

The flexible band is much thicker at the part D, which is turned at an angle with the remaining part which lies over the gas-cham- This thick part is firmly forced into a groove around the projectile near its base. and its ends meeting need not be united. If cast of soft brass, or the like, plaster-of-paris molds will answer, and by clipping it in two at a joint it maybe easily sprung on. A face, d, is turned on it to neatly fit the bore, and from this (which is slightly above the general surface) the band inclines downward back to the bevel on the shot, against which it rests flush with the shot. Vhen fired, the part over the chamber only rises to fill the rifles and bore, and thisis the only change it undergoes.

rllhe gas-chambers L are beneath that part only of the expansive portion of the band, and must be of just such dimensions as to contain sufficient gas, and no more, to force the bands rear peripheries into the rifles otherwise bad results would ensue. The right to use gas-chambers beneath any kind of band is secured in my patent before named. This, then, together with that, secures every essential feature shown in my present drawings, constituting a complete shell or shot.

Having described my invention, what I desire to claim iswhereby it may be released only by the press- /ure of the discharge upon the said valve in the base of the shell, substantially as described. 3. The additional holding device of a hook or elbow stop, s, fixed in the cylindrical seatpiece C, and a pin, fi, in the plunger, or, as an equivalent thereof, the use of the centrifugal balls q for the purpose of retaining the plunger securely until released by the rotation of the projectile due to the riflin g of thegun, substantially as described.

4. The employment of a friction-tape, o, in connection with the conical plunger, in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination, with the conical plunger and friction-tape, the twine or check-string t, to prevent the released plunger from straining and igniting the primer before the shell impinges, substantially as described.

6. In concussive shells, a chamber for the plunger of such dimensions as that the plunger may move freely, not only directlyT forward, as usual, but also sidewise, and perform its funcA tion even before reaching the sides of its chamber, in case of side impact, substantially as described. I

7. The use of two sets of stops, the one rigid, the other to yield on impact, as and for the purposes set forth.

J.. L. HENRY.

lVitnesses:

J oHN S. HoLLINGsHniD, JosEPi-r Pnoir. 

